JONESBORO (AP) — Two women are eager to record every cemetery grave site in a 17-county region of Northeast Arkansas.

Dr. Julie Morrow, an archaeologist with the Arkansas Archeological Survey at the Jonesboro Research Station, and Debbie Sterbinsky, historic cemetery research consultant and genealogist, held a planning session Monday to review previously recorded information and decide how to proceed.

"We want to get every single cemetery and grave into a database," Morrow said.

"We're using Knights of Pythias as a jumping off point," Morrow said."There are hundreds of unreported cemeteries in the 17-county area. We want to get them recorded and documented so we know who is supposed to be there."

"We can't keep up with them all," Sterbinsky said.

The researchers said Craighead County has at least 88 cemeteries.

They also brainstormed to list possible agencies and organizations where they can apply for planning grants for funds for cemetery research. Morrow said they get information from wherever they can: death certificates, funeral home records, museums and genealogy websites.

"Grants would defer the costs," Morrow said.

Particular equipment is necessary, and labor is needed to count and photograph grave markers and to determine the possibility of unmarked graves.

"We want to make certain the condition is recorded. Some are in such poor condition," Morrow said. "Some are in danger of being destroyed, and some need a fence around them."

John Dietsche, who works with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cemetery for the City of Jonesboro, met Monday with Sterbinsky and Morrow to share information about cemeteries in Jonesboro.

Much of his work involves taking care of the Knights of Pythias, Oaklawn and Nettleton cemeteries, he said.

"Nowadays, stones are just stones," he said. "Twenty years earlier, stones told a story."

Dietsche shared an alphabetical list of headstones at Knights of Pythias, and the researchers hope to find more individuals who have information about cemeteries within the 17-county region.

"We want to compile the information and organize it so we can better serve people who want cemeteries recorded," Morrow said.

She said she receives phone calls monthly from individuals who want her to map a cemetery so descendants can locate burial sites of their loved ones or record sites before headstones deteriorate or disappear.

An issue Sterbinsky faces concerns death certificates.

"As of now, you have to order them one at a time from Vital Records," she said.

When she deals with so many cemeteries, she believes there should be a better, faster way to get death certificates, she said.

"Other states have them online," Sterbinsky said. "It helps you the most with old cemeteries."